Do you eat before training?

I used to run in the early morning after having no more than a sip of black coffee and never felt great.

The same happened when i choose to run during lunch time. After being tied up all morning in meetings I just wanted to change quickly and hit the road. Having a meal and wait 90-120 minutes as is recommended to avoid stomach problems was not very feasible with my work schedule. Well, I can tell you that I often have not felt very energized, neither on my morning runs nor the midday ones. I jumped to wrong conclusions, thinking: I’m just too tired in the morning to enjoy running. Or: It’s just exhausting to run in the middle of a demanding day at work.

Better have a snack—and move energized and enjoy your workout1

It was Hannah, who told me that I better have a bite or two of something instead of running with an empty stomach promising that helps to have a better workout experience. Of course, we don’t talk about a full meal here. She recommended me to have a light snack, like fruit, granola – or just some juice about half an our before my run. Initially I was cautious and just started to add some plant-milk to my coffee. I wanted to avoid feeling full or bloated, and that worked and already eliminated the “empty-stomach” feeling. Experimenting further, I settled on banana, corn flakes or oat meal – all of those easily available, no matter if at home or on business trips. I usually have that just a 15-20 min before I go run.

My BPC cookies (Banana, Pine Nuts, Chocolate) are in the meantime my favorite pre-workout snack, they are not too sweet (no sugar added) and soft, not crunchy. And, they become a staple pretty quickly because my family loves them too 🙂

BPC-Cookies (Banana, Pine Nuts, Chocolate)

snack first & run well

Recipe

• You need the following ingredients
  • Almond (or other) milk, 1/2 cup (~120g)
  • Apple sauce, unsweetend, 1/3 cup (~90g)
  • Bananas, ripe and of medium size, 3 pcs. (~290g)
  • Chocolate chips, semisweet (~180g)
  • Cinnamon, ground 1 tbs (15ml)
  • Oat meal, 2 cups (~180g)
  • Pine Nuts, 1/4 cup (~28g) – see below for substitution
  • Vanilla flavor, 1 tbs (15ml)

Instead of pine nuts you may use: other nuts, raisins, craisins (chopped), orange peel cubes.

• Preheated oven to 350 °F / 180 °C (bake) or 325 °F / 165 °C (conv. bake)
• Mash the ripe bananas and mix with all other ingredients
• Form round shaped cookies with two spoons, about 2-3″ (4-5 cm), yields about 22 pcs.
• Bake for 15-20 min, up to 25 min for larger ones
• Let them cool on a rack and enjoy (or store in the freezer for a couple of weeks)
• With the ingredients I used (see picture) each cookie provides about 12g of carbs, 100 cal

I very much hope this might be a snack that you like to add in your workout routine.

Enjoy!

And let us know your related experiences and favorite pre-run snacks in the comments.